Journal Entry No. 6

​

One of the most important lessons I've learned through decades of studying Japanese Irezumi is that a tattoo should never be designed separately from the body.

​

The body is the canvas, but it is also part of the composition.

​

When I look at a Japanese tattoo, I'm not only thinking about the subject itself. I'm thinking about how that subject moves with the body, how it connects to the surrounding elements, how the composition flows from one area to another, and how the entire piece will look when the body is standing, moving, and aging.

​

This is especially important with large-scale work.

​

A sleeve isn't simply a collection of individual images placed onto an arm. A backpiece isn't simply a large picture placed on someone's back. A traditional Japanese bodysuit is an entire composition that must be considered as one connected work.

​

Placement, scale, direction, negative space, background, and the relationship between each subject all matter.

​

A dragon needs room to move.

​

A koi needs an environment that supports its movement.

​

Flowers and leaves can connect different areas of a composition.

​

Background elements can help unify an entire piece and create rhythm across the body.

​

These decisions are part of what makes traditional Japanese tattoo composition so powerful.

​

Over the years, I've learned to spend as much time thinking about what should surround a subject as I do thinking about the subject itself.

​

That is where experience becomes important.

​

You begin to understand that the strongest tattoo isn't necessarily the one with the most detail. Sometimes the most powerful composition is the one where every element has enough room to breathe and every part of the design has a purpose.

​

When a tattoo follows the natural structure of the body, it can feel almost as though it belongs there.

​

That is what I continue to strive for.

​

I want the tattoo to move with the collector rather than simply sit on the skin.

​

This is one of the reasons I became so deeply drawn to Japanese Irezumi when I was young. The compositions I first saw as a seventeen-year-old fascinated me because they appeared to become part of the body itself.

​

Thirty years later, I understand that what I was seeing was the result of tremendous thought, discipline, experience, and respect for composition.

​

And I'm still learning from it.

​

— Horiyume

​

Authentic Japanese Irezumi, preserving tradition, honoring culture, creating legacy.